Why You Need a Content Plan for Your Blogged Book

There are two primary differences between blogged books and a booked blogs. A blogged book starts with an idea for a book and it is written from a content plan on a blog and later published as a book. A booked blog is an after thought, simply a bunch of posts that were written and published on a blog and that, while they may make sense as a book, were later considered as a good idea for a book, grouped together into a book and published.

While bloggers often publish booked blogs with no content plan at all, writers write and publish blogged book by systematically completing all the elements of their content plan. (Or they do if they follow my recommendations here on this blog or in my book, How to Blog a Book: Write, Publish, and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time. This plan consists of all the subjects they want to include in the book. It is organized into chapters. The chapters are broken down farther into post-sized bits with subheadings. The subheadings are later rewritten as blog post titles (so they are keyword rich and will attract readers).  Blog readers may not realize they are reading chapters that appear in bits and pieces (posts) until later when the full-length book gets published. But the writer, or blogger, knows he or she is, indeed, blogging a book—not just blogging.

There are several reasons why you need a content plan to blog a book. The content plan:

1. keeps your blog focused on your topic
2. gives you as steady stream of topics for your blog posts
3. helps you fill your book with appropriate and necessary material
4. helps you write write your book quickly
5. provides search engine optimization for your blog (because you consistently write on topic using the same keywords)
6. reduces the amount of editing and revising you later need to do

The mot important reason to have a content plan is this one: It ensures you write a good book.

A content plan basically helps you approach your blogged book like a writer not a blogger. I you want to write a book on your blog, that’s what you need to do. Bloggers book blogs. Writers blog books. Bloggers can learn to blog books, too, thus becoming writers.

If you would like to know more about content plans and how to blog a book, consider joining a blog-to-book coaching group in November.  To find out more, click here. Or, if you live in N. California, consider attending this one-time-only small group workshop in the Santa Cruz Mountains on How to Blog Your Way to a Book Deal on October 27.

Photo courtesy of renjith krishnan